§2.1“Beatus ille qui procul negotiis, §2.2ut prisca gens mortalium, §2.3paterna rura bubus exercet suis §2.4solutus omni faenore §2.5neque excitatur classico miles truci §2.6neque horret iratum mare §2.7forumque vitat et superba civium §2.8potentiorum limina.
“Happy is he who, far from business, like the ancient race of mortals, tills his ancestral fields with his own oxen, free from all usury, and is neither roused as a soldier by the fierce trumpet, nor dreads the angry sea, and avoids the Forum and the proud thresholds of more powerful citizens.
§2.9ergo aut adulta vitium propagine §2.10altas maritat populos §2.11aut in reducta valle mugientium §2.12prospectat errantis greges §2.13inutilisque falce ramos amputans §2.14feliciores inserit §2.15aut pressa puris mella condit amphoris §2.16aut tondet infirmas ovis.
Therefore, he either weds the mature shoots of vines to lofty poplars, or in a secluded valley watches the lowing herds of cattle wandering, or, pruning useless branches with his sickle, grafts more fruitful ones, or stores pressed honey in clean amphoras, or shears his tender sheep.
§2.17vel cum decorum mitibus pomis caput §2.18Autumnus agris extulit, §2.19ut gaudet insitiva decerpens pira §2.20certantem et uvam purpurae, §2.21qua muneretur te, Priape, et te, pater §2.22Silvane, tutor finium.
Or when Autumn has raised in the fields his head adorned with mellow fruits, how he rejoices as he plucks the grafted pears and the grape that vies with purple, with which to reward you, Priapus, and you, father Sylvanus, guardian of boundaries!
§2.23libet iacere modo sub antiqua ilice, §2.24modo in tenaci gramine: §2.25labuntur altis interim ripis aquae, §2.26queruntur in Silvis aves §2.27frondesque lymphis obstrepunt manantibus, §2.28somnos quod invitet levis.
It is his pleasure to lie sometimes under an ancient oak, sometimes on the thick-clinging grass; meanwhile, waters glide between high banks, birds lament in the woods, and leaves murmur against the flowing streams, such as to invite light slumbers.
§2.29at cum tonantis annus hibernus Iovis §2.30imbris nivisque conparat, §2.31aut trudit acris hinc et hinc multa cane §2.32apros in obstantis plagas §2.33aut amite levi rara tendit retia §2.34turdis edacibus dolos §2.35pavidumque leporem et advenam laqueo gruem §2.36iucunda captat praemia.
But when the wintry season of thundering Jove prepares rains and snows, he either drives fierce wild boars with many a dog from all sides into the opposing nets, or with a smooth pole stretches fine nets, as snares for the greedy thrushes, and catches the timid hare and the foreign crane with a snare, as pleasant rewards.
Who among these things does not forget the evil cares that love possesses?
§2.39quodsi pudica mulier in partem iuvet §2.40domum atque dulcis liberos, §2.41Sabina qualis aut perusta Solibus §2.42pernicis uxor Apuli, §2.43sacrum vetustis exstruat lignis focum §2.44lassi Sub adventum viri §2.45claudensque textis cratibus laetum pecus §2.46distenta siccet ubera §2.47et horna dulci vina promens dolio §2.48dapes inemptas adparet: §2.49non me Lucrina iuverint conchylia §2.50magisve rhombus aut scari, §2.51siquos Eois intonata fluctibus §2.52hiems ad hoc vertat mare, §2.53non Afra avis descendat in ventrem meum, §2.54non attagen Ionicus §2.55iucundior quam lecta de pinguissimis §2.56oliva ramis arborum §2.57aut herba lapathi prata amantis et gravi §2.58malvae salubres corpori §2.59vel agna festis caesa Terminalibus §2.60vel haedus ereptus lupo.
But if a chaste wife does her part to help the home and sweet children, like a Sabine woman or the sun-burnt wife of the active Apulian, and builds up the sacred hearth with seasoned wood against the arrival of her weary husband, and closing the joyful flock in the woven hurdles, dries their distended udders, and drawing this year's wine from the sweet jar, prepares an unbought feast, no Lucrine oysters would please me more, nor turbot, nor scar, if a winter thundered by Eastern waves should turn any of them to this sea; no African bird would descend into my stomach, nor Ionian francolin, more pleasant than the olive gathered from the richest branches of the trees, or the herb of sorrel that loves the meadows, and wholesome mallows for the heavy body, or a lamb slain at the festive Terminalia, or a kid rescued from the wolf.
§2.61has inter epulas ut iuvat pastas ovis §2.62videre properantis domum, §2.63videre fessos vomerem inversum boves §2.64collo trahentis languido §2.65positosque vernas, ditis examen domus, §2.66circum renidentis Laris. ” §2.67haec ubi locutus faenerator Alfius, §2.68iam iam futurus rusticus, §2.69omnem redegit idibus pecuniam, §2.70quaerit kalendis ponere.
Amid these feasts, how it pleases to see the well-fed sheep hastening home, to see the weary oxen dragging the inverted plow with their languid necks, and the home-born slaves, the swarm of a wealthy house, arranged around the shining Lares!” When the usurer Alfius had spoken these words, on the point of becoming a rustic, he called in all his money on the Ides, and seeks to put it out again on the Kalends.